Doctoral Dissertation Research: Primate Nutritional Niches and Species Coexistence

在灵长类动物群落中，有许多共存物种的例子，它们在同一栖息地对饮食和其他生态资源的使用上有很大的重叠。发现它们能够共存的机制对于理解生态群落是如何形成的非常重要，对保护工作也至关重要。本论文项目将研究营养在灵长类物种共存中的作用，研究食用相同食物的不同灵长类物种如何选择不同数量的蛋白质、脂肪、碳水化合物和其他营养素，从而导致物种特定的营养概况。通过收集行为、饮食和营养数据，有可能量化这些营养概况，并检查它们之间重叠的数量。这个项目为保护工作提供了一种新的方法，因为它可能会揭示单个物种成功所必需的营养平衡。此外，Co-PI将为来自STEM领域代表性不足群体的本科生提供基于实验室的营养生态学方法培训，该项目将涉及与马达加斯加同事和学生的国际研究合作。该项目还将在美国的K-12学校和实地开展保护和科学推广工作。该项目将调查营养在维持四种狐猴物种共存中的作用：米尔内爱德华狐猴、韦罗狐猴、红额狐猴和红尾狐猴。该项目将应用营养几何框架，该框架模拟生物体如何平衡多种营养成分，以确定每个物种的营养目标，并检查它们的营养专业化程度。该项目还将检查是否存在性别差异导致性别特定的营养目标，最后，它将检查这种营养方法是否比以前仅使用饮食和微栖息地特征的方法更有助于了解共存。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In primate communities there are multiple examples of coexisting species that overlap substantially in their use of dietary and other ecological resources in the same habitat. Discovering the mechanisms by which they are able to coexist is important for understanding how ecological communities are formed and is vital for conservation efforts. This dissertation project will examine the role of nutrition in primate species coexistence, investigating how different primate species who consume the same foods may select different amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrate, and other nutrients that result in a species-specific nutritional profile. By collecting behavioral, dietary, and nutritional data it is possible to quantify these nutritional profiles and examine the amount of overlap among them. This project provides a novel approach for conservation efforts because it will potentially uncover the nutrient balance necessary for the success of individual species. In addition, the Co-PI will provide training in lab-based nutritional ecology methods to undergraduates from underrepresented groups in STEM fields, and the project will involve international research collaborations with Malagasy colleagues and students. The Co-PI will also engage in conservation and scientific outreach at K-12 schools in the US and field locations.The project will investigate the role of the nutrition in maintaining species coexistence in four species of lemurs: the Milne-Edward's sifaka, the Verreaux's sifaka, the red-fronted lemur, and the red-tailed sportive lemur. The project will apply the Nutritional Geometry framework, which models how organisms balance multiple nutritional components, to identify the nutritional goals of each species and examine their degree of nutritional specialization. The project will also examine if there are sex-differences resulting in sex-specific nutrient goals, and finally, it will examine whether this nutritional approach is more informative for understanding coexistence than previous methods that used solely diet and microhabitat characteristics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.